Preventer medicine adherence 2022-2023 (AIHW)

Analysis of PBS data shows that in 2022-2023:

Preventer use: amongst people aged 50 and under who were dispensed at least one preventer in 12 months (note: people over 50 may have used a preventer for COPD):
– 31% were considered to have good adherence to their preventer (dispensed a preventer 3 or more times in a year)
– adherence increased from 24% in 15-24 yo to 39% in 45-50 yo
– adherence was slightly higher for males (33%) vs females (29%)
The proportion of people with good adherence has slightly dropped since 2017-2018 (33%), apart from spikes in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 related to bushfires and COVID pandemic.

Biologic use: amongst people aged 50 and under who were dispensed biologics 3 or more times in the year:
– 70% were considered to have good adherence (dispensed a biologic 6 or more times in the year)
– good adherence was more common in females (71%) vs males (67%)
– good adherence was highest in people 45-50 and lowest in people 25-34 years of age.
The proportion of people with good adherence to biologics has remained stable since 2018-2019 (72%) overall, with a small downward trend for people aged 34 and under.
Between 2018-2019 and 2022-2023, the number of people dispensed at least once biologic in the year has more than tripled, from 810 to 2,900 people.